Let's think about the scenario that Vito never becomes gay and Tony is killed. Vito definitely would have been considered as overall boss of the family. He was a great earner very valuable.

Thoughts?

I read this for a second thinking you were talking about the Godfather, and was like wtf are you talking about man. Anyway, since I commented, I would go out on a limb and say Christopher (at the time) would have been a contender for it. At that point in the show, Christopher had been getting groomed to take over after Tony. Obviously that plan fizzled out, but you gotta remember...Christopher was going to take this family into the 21st century.

"We're already in the 21st Century, T."

From a business standpoint, Vito was very level headed and knew how to make money. He didn't have enemies or cause tension among the families.

He would have made an excellent choice to take control of the family once Tony died if they never killed him for being gay. Christopher was better off running his own crew and thats it. I would have never promoted him higher than that and I think Tony Soprano would have agreed with that decision in the long run.

Makes sense Rush. Especially given that Phil became boss of a NY family. There was a tie via Vito’s wife that would have made a strong financial alliance

Vito as well as Christopher would never have the same aura as Tony Soprano.
Tony had all the skills to be the boss.

In real life Vito would have been. That is a tv show and fiction.

In real life Tony never becomes boss of the family. He would have been just like Frank Calabrese Sr. In the Chicago Outfit.

Good point. What kind of earner was Tony? We assume he wax an earner but in what areas?

Construction and Sanitation was where he made his big money. He also dealt in gambling/loan sharking like his father, which was how they took over Satriales and became a nice legit business for them. Francis Satriale got in debt with them and they took it over.

Tony in real life would have just ran his own crew and kicked up to his bosses. He was a very good earner but just way too hot headed & unpredictable to become boss in my honest opinion. I mean you look at the guy the wrong way or say something he didn't like and he would have ripped your head off. You cannot have the boss of a family with that kind of temper if you want to be successful. This was the reason they ended up going to war in the show and pretty much got eliminated.

I totally agree with you Rush. I thought it interesting when that one season they did the Wall Street scam but never attributed the brains behind it. No way Tong thought of it… seemed more of a Hesh thing but they never said much more about ot

Tbf at the end they literally where a glorified crew and after Tony there was no one with the brains or know how to run a family. IMO. Could Benny have made boss, i don't think he had the knowledge or connections though..